REVIEW COMMENTS: TomTom Navigator HP Edition

[MikeB]

HP are well known for their PDAs, PCs and Printers. Of course we are only interested in their PDAs here. More importantly we are interested in GPS navigation on PDAs, and this is what HP have produced in conjunction with TomTom. With a retail price of £299.99 this represents real value for money. How does it shape up?

This of course isn't the first time HP have offered complete navigation bundles, but this is the first time with respected TomTom Navigator software.

Click here to read our review and find out what we think of it.
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Mike Barrett

[Cranemankent]

I agree with the review generally with the proviso in that the info from the mapping company could be updated more frequently.
Example I had recently was travelling from London A2 onto the Dartford Tunnel approach (M25) the map leads you from the link lane off the A2 up the exit lane, over the roundabout and back onto the motorway. A pointless excercise as you can join it directly from the A2 link.
Also while negotiating a route from the A2 through the Dartford tunnel toward Thurrock there is a HUUGE detour AROUND Lakeside to get to a destination just the other side of it. 3½ mile detour around the site to a point only 3/4 of a mile through it!
I suppose it'll be updated one day, but at a cost no doubt

I feel it's essential to copy ALL the TomTom data from the original card to a MUCH larger card to add on the EXTREMELY useful Speed (OOOPS sorry) ...Safety camera POIS from this site.

Generally though, it's a damn good set-up for the price.

[ias]

Interesting, especially about binning the pda and going for a hp4700
I asked TomTom not so long ago and they said that their software would "only" work in landscape mode if used with Tungsten T3 (and not yet with New the T5)

Now the good thing about hp4700 is the size of the screen and the fact it can be used in landscape. Is it larger than reviewed pda ? cause it would not fit in the screen mount.

Anyone out there using hp4700 with TOMTOM working in Landscape ??


thanks

[SimonCatlin]

This review only confirms 3 things to me
1. TTN3 is the last pure Pocket PC version.
2. The Lord taketh and does not giveth (missing features). Never dwongrade a prodct - you only pi$$ off the users.
3. TomTom are only interested in the "I want to get there users" now e.g.TomTom Go.

If the Maps in TTN2005 are updated and work with TTN3 then I'll buy the upgrade just for the maps, else I maybe looking at Navigon TMC or CoPilot with Traffic.

I may be so bold as to not buy another package for a year while TomTom make the product more advanced. Either way.. I am not happy
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iPhone5, TomTom, Google maps, Navfree, Viewranger and Apple Maps (ekk)

[MikeB]

This may not be the case.

When we met with TomTom at CeBIT last year we were told that there would not be a PC upgrade to the new system until they had implemented all the features in the current TT3 product.

Obviously this statement was made nearly a year ago, and product roadmaps will change to suit market requirements, but I have not been informed that there has been any change to this statement.

Now on the surface it may look like a lot of functionality has been dropped for this release of software, but I am sure that TomTom would point out that this is not an upgrade for TomTom 3 (PDA) users. With CeBIT coming up in March I would expect some announcements to be made, or at least I would hope so.

It really is just a question of wait and see. Last year we went to CeBIT hoping to get a sneak preview of TT3 and they suprised eveyone with the GO and TomTom Mobile.
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Mike Barrett

[MikeB]

Ooops It has just been pointed out to me by TomTom that I have made a slight error in my review.

I stated that the TomTom Navigator HP Edition came with the Major Roads of Europe. This is not the case you will only get the Maps of the Country/Region that you purchace.

You still have the full Europe maps on the supplied CD which need to have an activation code purchased before use.

Sorry about that!!
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Mike Barrett

[SimonCatlin]

This, at least proves TomTom read the board.. now if only they took notice!
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iPhone5, TomTom, Google maps, Navfree, Viewranger and Apple Maps (ekk)

[tedkay]

Hi

Yes I agree this is a good and through review, and getting a novice to have a try is a novel and useful idea that many other software reviewers would do well to copy.

Like many others I have waited paitently for an upgrade for TT3 to appear so I am particularly disappointed to find that this is apparently a backwards upgrade!

I am particularly puzzled as to why your reviewer concludes that the loss of some important (invaluable to many) features renders the product more attractive to a new GPS user! I mean after all we are talking about for example the Itinary, which enables a user to plot a route exactly as they want it, not some deep embedded programming feature requiring heavyweight IT knowledge. Why would a new user want a product that has less usabilty than previous versions? I personally would be gutted if I went out and bought the latest version of any software only to discover that someone with the earlier version could do lots more than I could! Why would a new user want to be stuck with the routes TT produces by default, which are all too often not the quickest or the best?

As a long-standing TT user (and one who considers TT3 to be the best of the bunch overall and definitely worth having despite their customer service being amongst the worst on the planet! ) I patiently waited for TT to bring out new versions with the features needed to improve the product. The Itinary was to me the most valuable of those - at last I could pick a route (which I can easily save for future use) with all the stops or waypoints I wanted; on scenic roads if time allowed; avoiding motorways or known botlenecks, and so on. The long wait for this indicates that TT had to do a lot of programming to implement it, which makes it even more puzzling that having done that they now throw it all away!

So yes, the review is thorough, but could easily mislead a newcomer into thinking that the features it lacks would anyway be beyond their comprehension - and that is simply not the case.

Regards
Ted Kay

[MikeB]

Hello Ted,

[tedkay]

Hi MikeB


You wrote: 'This is not an upgrade, it is a new product'

Well it is advertised by TomTom on their website under the heading Tom Tom Navigator. If it is a completely new product why hasn't it got a completely new name, as in TomTom Go, TomTom Mobile etc., like TomTom Barebones or TomTom for Dummies or TomTom Navigator Lite or TomTom We've Combined a Cheapie PDA with a Stripped-Down Navigator3 to Make it Look Like a Good Deal for Those Who Don't Know Better

You wrote: 'These entry level products are a reflection of what market research has found new users to want. '

That statement has to be a contradiction in terms - how can a new user know what he or she wants, they don't know what is available. I simply don't believe that market research of new users (if such a concept is feasible and I fail to see how it can be - quite clearly a 'new user' has no way of knowing what features would be nice) produced the following result:

Q: Would you like to be able to select a route of your own choosing?

A: No thank you!

Regards
Ted

[obvious]

[rinkrat]

After reading your review, and looking to get a sat nav package for a while, I decided to go for this package. My budget was limited and this seemed like a nice package. this is my first venture into pocket PCs and Sat Nav also.

Within no time I was up and running, and I have now got safety camera POIs with alerts, took only a couple of minutes to achieve this.

I would just like to add that I am well impressed with this package ( the same one you reviewed ) What a bargain it is and good value for money !

I realise its pretty basic and some more experianced members are not impressed by the missing features, but it suits me !

When I become more expert who knows I will maybe need someting a bit more complex and up market.

IMHO to anyone wanting a basic package, with a Pocket PC thrown in for other basic stuff too, for £100 less than a Tomtom go, this surely is good value

Thanks for all the good work.

Rinkrat

Thanks for all the good and interesting banter on the site

[gregh]

Does anyone know if and how you can add US maps to this product?

I've looked on the TomTom website and cannot see anything.

regards,

greg

[outie]

In the review you pointed out that the application froze when you exited tomtom on the hx4700. I am also experiencing the same thing with ttn2004 and asus a730, also a vga device. If the program was only opened for ~5min, it'd exit quickly. The longer the program runs the longer it takes to release the BT gps/pda while freezing (can take up to 5min).

I too have the think outside keyboard and yes the soft-keyboard in ttn is gone which I find unacceptable.

Finally, my ttn2004 seems to eat up all my memory in approx. 1 hour of running time. I was forced to quit the program and soft reset. (Before anyone thinks I have software conflict, I don't, I had a clean install from hard resetS) Together with the exit freezing I am suspecting there is some problem with ttn4 and VGA devices. Can anyone confirm that?

[julianbarker]

I also had the problem with TT4 apparently eating all the memory and me having ot close the application to free some up before restartign TT. I eventually found the problem was not TT, it was a third party freeware program to monitor battery usage that chewed up memory at an alarming rate. Since uninstalling the application TT has never quit or crashed at all.

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